I'd been paying close attention to the weather forecast for today to see if there was much chance of getting out birding. Snow and heavy rain seemed to be the default condition for most of the day over Fife and Angus. I even looked into taking the train to Edinburgh to try for Ring Necked Parakeet (around Merchiston) and Nuthatch, with a possibility of a trip out to Musselburgh as well to add a bit more variety to the day. When the alarm went off this morning, I checked the weather forecast and even Edinburgh was now forecast to get rain/snow, so I went back to sleep.
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| Black Headed Gull (J4U2) |
I got up around lunchtime to heavy snow outside and a rather white and grey view from my window. However within a couple of hours it had relented and I decided I would take the opportunity to pop up to Swannie Ponds to look for ringed gulls and maybe something exotic (Iceland/Glaucous/Mediterranean) among them. At around 1415 I headed out. There was a coating of a couple of centimetres snow at most but the sky was still a bit grey, though temperature-wise it wasn't overly cold. There didn't seem to be any birds on the wing though. A hunched up Woodpigeon in a tree, a Herring Gull on a chimney stack and a Carrion Crow on a TV Aerial started off the list. The first birds in flight seen were a few Feral Pigeons.
A Black Headed Gull was atop a lamp post on Clepington Road and a couple of Jackdaws flew past as I headed for the ponds. Unsusrprisingly, when I got there I found them mostly frozen with a slushy look to them. A pair of Mallards stood on the path, while out on the ice stood a mix of Black Headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and a couple of Common Gulls. A single Moorhen was wandering around on the path further round. The one little area of unfrozen water had a couple of Tufted Ducks and a few Mallard on it.
I scanned through the gull flock for ringed birds and found Yellow 2CA6 first, followed soon after by White J4U2. I'd brought some food with me to try and tempt a few more birds in and it seemed to work. When I scanned again after feeding I found Green JN69 and Yellow 2XLD. All 4 are regulars in Winter at the ponds, so none was a surprise. Nor was it any real surprise that there was nothing exotic hiding among them. A single metal-ringed bird was also seen but the light wasn't great for trying to read the ring number.
I had a quick look at the lower pond where the trio of Mute Swans were, along with a single Coot, and a pair of Goosander. The mix of gulls was similar to the other pond though I failed to find any ringed birds this time. There was a Black Headed Gull with a noticeable pink flush to its underparts. I wandered back to the top pond and heard a rather quiet bird call and looked up to see where it had come from. A pair of small birds were flying over the ponds from the north and I rattled off a few photos. I was rather surprised to find that they were Meadow Pipits - regular enough in Autumn as they migrate over, but unexpected in February. Another fly-over was a single Collared Dove. A Magpie chuckled from the island before popping up onto the top branches for a minute or two. A Robin hopped around on the path.
I decided not to head for Eastern Cemetery, instead I'd go to City Quay. A Goldfinch flew over as I waited to cross the road from the ponds. In Dalkeith Road I added a few more species around the gardens - Blue Tit, House Sparrow and Blackbird, and a Starling in a tree. I heard Collared Dove from one of the gardens just before I reached the side gate to Baxter Park. I decided I might as well pop in and see if there was anything around.
There was a rather large flock of over 100 finches flying around rather restlessly and settling from time to time in the treetops. I thought they would be mostly Chaffinches and Goldfinches, but they turned out to be predominantly Linnets, with some Greenfinches, Goldfinches and at least 1 Chaffinch. A flock of Fieldfares, Redwings and Mistle Thrush flew off south down the park as I searched around for anything else I could find. Grey Squirrels could be seen in a few of the trees but other bird species proved harder to find. I did succeed in seeing a few Blackbirds and Redwings picking around among the leaf litter and a few Blue Tits by the small stream. Woodpigeons roosted up in a few trees. With the light beginning to go, owing to the still rather grey skies, I headed for home at around 1600.
A decent enough wander with 29 species seen including the unexpected Meadow Pipits and Linnets all within a mile of home on a rather unpromising looking day.
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| Black Headed Gull (2CA6) |
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| Common Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull (JN69) |
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| Black Headed Gull (2XLD) |
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| Coot |
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| Goosander & Mallard |
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| Goosander |
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| Black Headed Gull (pink flush to breast/belly) |
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| Black Headed Gull (2CA6) |
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| Black Headed Gull (JN69) |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Magpie |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Linnet & Goldfinch |
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| Linnet, Goldfinch & Greenfinch |
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| Linnet & Greenfinch |
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| Linnet & Goldfinch |
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| Fieldfare & Redwing |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Goosander, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon.
